A group of Eighth Route Army cavalry advanced along the field path, and saw that the originally endless green gauze tent had turned into a bare stubble field.
The corn and corn stalks have been collected, but women from nearby villages are digging corn stubble in the fields with their children, obviously preparing to use it as firewood.
The children playing in the fields were obviously a little panicked by the sudden appearance of the troops, but the women who were working clearly recognized that this was a team of the Eighth Route Army and did not panic but took the initiative to greet them.
The relationship between the Eighth Route Army and the people is like that between fish and water. It is with the full support of the people that the Eighth Route Army can persevere in the struggle against the Japanese behind enemy lines.
How could the boss not understand this? He immediately got off his horse and started a conversation: "Sister, what kind of land is this?"
"Comrade, this is Linpu Market, where are you going?"
“Heze County City!”
"It's very close. Let's follow Heze County and walk south for a while and we'll be there!" The old lady pointed to the road enthusiastically. The two children timidly hid behind the old lady and stared at them with their big black eyes.
Looking at the stranger in front of him, he still chewed the sweet straw in his mouth.
The boss still has no children, so he subconsciously touched the child's head and asked, "How old is he this year?"
"The older one is four years old and the younger one is three years old!" the old lady replied.
"Here!" the older child took out a sweet straw from his pocket.
"For me?" The boss pointed at himself.
"Well, here you go!"
The boss smiled and took the sweet straw without peeling it off. He put it in his mouth and bit it. The sweet juice reverberated in his mouth: "It's so sweet, kid!"
Then the boss touched his empty pocket, turned to the deputy chief of staff and said, "Is there anything to eat?"
The deputy chief of staff also had nothing in his pocket. Fortunately, an accompanying guard took out a handful of hawthorn and said, "Boss, this is from the landlady!"
"Kids, I'll give you this in exchange!" The boss couldn't help but put the hawthorns in the pockets of the two children. The children picked up a hawthorn and stuffed it into their mouths, and their little faces suddenly wrinkled.
"Haha!" The old lady and the boss laughed.
"Old sister, your village should divide the land, right? How many acres of land will your family be divided into? Is there enough food to last until next summer's harvest?"
"We have a family of ten, six adults and four children. We originally had three acres of land, but now the government comrades have divided the land into three acres and four quarters according to head count!"
"According to this year's harvest, the corn yield per mu is nearly 300 kilograms, which is enough to feed one province for more than half a year!" the old lady said with a grin.
"That's good. Having enough food is the most important thing. The little devils will be beaten away in a few years. When the children of their generation grow up, everyone will have enough to eat and everyone will have something to eat.
Learned!" said the boss.
Soon after, the team set off again.
"Boss, the land in the plains is really fertile. Despite the lack of rain this year, the yield per mu can still reach 300 kilograms. If all parts of southwestern Shandong can achieve this yield next year, there will be enough power to support other base areas!"
The chief of general staff laughed.
"Yes, even if chemical fertilizers are used in Tainan, the yield of corn grown on flat land will only reach 300 kilograms, and the yield on sloping land will be significantly reduced!"
"This trip to southwest Shandong is well worth it. Southwest Shandong will become an important food production area for our Eighth Route Army in the future!" said the boss.
The plains of southwestern Shandong have a vast territory, and local landowners, large and small, own many fertile fields. Even ordinary people have several acres of fields in their homes.
However, as the population is also densely populated, some owned wastelands cannot be reclaimed at will. During the land reform, the fertile farmland and wasteland obtained from the landlords gave every household the land they needed to survive.
As long as we survive the past one or two years, we will have great development potential in the future.
At noon that day, Zhou Weihan and Tan Lin welcomed the head of the headquarters and the Northern Bureau.
After lunch, Zhou Weihan and Tan Lin led the leaders to understand the situation of the Shandong Southwest Regional Government and the Military Division respectively.
That night, everyone gathered together, and Zhou Weihan prepared a slightly rich meal.
"Where have you Zhou Weihan been? The food is pretty good, right?" the deputy chief of staff joked, looking at the food on the table.
The boss didn't say anything more, but instead raised the tea bowl on the table: "Comrades, today the chief of staff and I came to Heze. In addition to having an in-depth understanding of the actual situation, we also wanted to pay a toast to the head of the Military Commission who represents the Military Commission.
Celebration drinks!”
"To capture Heze and open up the base area in southwestern Shandong, all the comrades who participated in this operation must have contributed a lot. We must continue to work hard in the future to hold on to the hard-won results. Let's use water instead of wine today, let's do it!" The boss said and drank.
All.
When everyone present saw that the boss was talking about this, they all stood up and drank it all in one gulp.
"Sit down, sit down, Li Yunlong, why do you look so reserved today? This is not your temperament!" the deputy chief of staff laughed.
Li Yunlong looked at the boss and smiled, but did not dare to speak, just like a bad student meeting the teacher.
"Li Yunlong, you will be stationed in the southwestern Shandong base in the future. As a commander who leads troops alone and is stationed in one area, you will command thousands of troops under your command. You cannot make mistakes like before and you must always do the best for the comrades around you.
What a good example!" the boss said.
"Yes, sir, please rest assured that I will definitely be able to take care of myself in the future!" Li Yunlong immediately stood up and saluted a military salute.
"Then do the boss and I believe what you say?" the deputy chief of staff said.
"Hey, Chief of Staff, as long as I, Li Yunlong, stay in the base area in southwestern Shandong for one day, I will work together with my comrades from the local government to turn the base area into a piece of iron. If the little devils want to sweep the base area, be prepared to make sure they never come back!" Li Yunlong
He patted his chest and said.
"Okay, this sounds encouraging!" the boss said.
The reason why Li Yunlong is so confident is that he knew Zhou Weihan's expansion plan for the Southwest Shandong Military Division in advance. Although Li Yunlong will only be a member of the military division in the future, he will command division-level combat forces.
After finishing the meal, Zhou Weihan took the initiative and asked: "Boss, how many days do you and the chief of staff plan to stay?"
"What? You want to drive us away just after we arrived?"
"how could be?"
"This time the chief of staff and I are here in person. We all need to clarify the development direction of the southwestern Shandong base together. In addition, we also need to convey the latest instructions from the Military Commission!" the boss said.
"Latest instructions?"
"Yes, with the opening of the southwestern Shandong base area, the Hebei, Shandong and Yu Military Region and the Western Shandong Military Region have been completely connected. In order to better resist the Japanese army's raids on the base area in the future, the two military regions must strengthen their connections!"